The invention relates to improvements in apparatus for transporting groups of plain or filter cigarettes or other rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for transporting rod-shaped articles from one or more first paths, along endless additional paths and into a further path, e.g., into or in a filter tipping machine for cigarettes, cigarillos or cigars.
Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,079 to Hensgen et al. (granted Feb. 14, 1989) discloses an apparatus wherein two files of coaxial rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry are conveyed along two parallel paths which are located in a common vertical plane. A first conveyor has arms mounted for orbital movement along a circular path which is located in a vertical plane, and the arms carry pairs of receptacles which are disposed above each other and are maintained in parallelism with the articles of the two files. The pairs of receptacles accept articles from the two files and deliver the articles into the range of a second conveyor having flutes for parallel articles. The speed of the articles is reduced during travel with the first conveyor toward the transfer station between the first and second conveyors, and the direction of movement of the articles changes from combined axial and sidewise movement with the first conveyor to a purely sidewise or transversal movement with the second conveyor. The apparatus of Hensgen et al. can be utilized to transport plain cigarettes between the outlet of a twin cigarette rod making machine and the inlet of a filter tipping machine.